Using commodified representations to ‘perform’ and ‘fashion’ cultural heritage among Yucatec Maya women (Mexico)

Abstract

ABSTRACT The east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula has been a popular tourist destination for many years. To capture the gaze of tourists, promotional tourism literature of Cancún, the Riviera Maya, and the Grand Costa Maya feature common imagery used to promote other tropical environs. To set this destination apart, representations of Mayan Culture, such as archaeological ruins and ‘timeless’ Mayan villages, are used. As the tourism industry seeped its way inland to Valladolid, Maya women from Xocén now have more direct interaction with tourists. With the commodification of various aspects of contemporary Maya culture, Maya women use these representations to sell their heritage to tourists for financial gain. As these commodified aspects are essential components to Maya women’s lives, such as the 'iipil (traditional dress) and the daily work they do in their homes, Maya women can ‘perform’ and ‘fashion’ their heritage to reflect the modern tastes of tourists and themselves. Maya women play an active role in changing these outdated representations of their culture by asserting their modernity and in this process, reap some financial benefit, as well as promote and preserve their heritage.